Olympic athletes given deal on tickets

The tickets are being made available for every athlete in any sport and in every session in which they compete. About 70,000 tickets have been set aside for the scheme.

An athlete might not be able to get a pair of guaranteed tickets for some busy sessions, such as the preliminary morning sessions in swimming, where they would be a high demand. Here some athletes can only be guaranteed one ticket – but for later sessions they would be able to get two, according to London 2012.

The scheme follows an unhappy situation at the Beijing Games where ticket troubles left cyclist Sir Chris Hoy in danger of competing without his family watching as he won his three gold medals. His family only gained access to the velodrome to watch him after a sponsor intervened.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said: "We have always said that athletes' needs are at the heart of the Games, so we are delighted to be able to guarantee that athletes can share this once-in-a-lifetime experience with some of their biggest supporters – their families and friends."

International Olympic Committee coordination commission chairman Denis Oswald said: "The athletes are central to the work of the IOC and it's great to see this initiative of the IOC Athletes' Commission come to fruition.

"I'm glad that the IOC and London 2012 have been able to create a programme that will ensure that athletes can purchase tickets for their families and friends, so that they too can share the culmination of a journey that for many will have begun decades ago."

Tickets will be offered to athletes before and during the Games, once the full list of competing athletes participating in each session has been finalised. All sales to the athletes must be made at the face value of a ticket